Amir Taheri: ‘Containment’ Folly ... Bad Excuses on Iran Nukes

Amir Taheri is author of 11 books on the Middle East, Iran and Islam. He has been a syndicated columnist for American, British, and Middle Eastern publications since the 1980s.

With President Obama struggling to explain his failure to slow, let alone stop, the Iranian nuclear program, apologists are rushing to the rescue. They harp on three themes, all apparently aimed at confusing the debate.

The first is that we don’t know for sure that Iran is building a bomb. Well, no, we don’t — but only because the mullahs won’t let the International Atomic Energy Agency find out. Even then, in his latest report, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano states: "Iran has engaged in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devices."

There’s also the fact that, in 2003, Iran’s then-president, Muhammad Khatami, claimed that Tehran had stopped the military aspects of its project. If there’d been nothing to begin with, it would’ve been difficult to stop it.

The second theme is that even if the mullahs are building the bomb, the United States can stop them through sanctions. However, we know that 30 years of sanctions have had no effect on Iran’s behavior on key issues, including the nuclear one.

The third theme could be summed up thus: If Iran builds a bomb, learn to live with it. To back that advice, apologists recommend containment and deterrence, such as that practiced in the Cold War...